The scope for the June cycle of IAS has been expanded to contain results for all ISPs operating in Australia with more than 1,000 active subscribers at the end of the reporting period (i.e. as at 30 June 2009). Previously in the June cycle, data have only been collected from ISPs with 10,000 or more subscribers at the end of the reporting period.

This is an electronic release of Internet Activity, Australia. More detailed and historic information is available in the accompanying datacubes.

When comparing historical data care should be taken due to the change in scope to ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers.

HIGHLIGHTS

At the end of June 2009, there were 8.4 million active internet subscribers in Australia.

Digital subscriber line (DSL) continued to be the major technology for non dial-up connections, accounting for 57% (4.2 million) of these connections. However, this percentage share has decreased since December 2008 when DSL represented 63% of non dial-up access connections.

Mobile wireless subscribers had the next highest share, increasing significantly from 20% of all non dial-up connections (1.3 million) in December 2008 to 27% (2 million) in June 2009. This represents an increase of 51% over the six month period. (Note that mobile wireless subscriptions to the internet via a datacard or USB modem are included in the scope of this survey, but connections to the internet via mobile telephones are excluded).

Northern Territory subscriber numbers continued with an upward trend increasing by 20% since December 2008 to 83,000.

The general trend towards higher download speeds continued, with 57% of subscribers now using a download speed of 1.5Mbps or greater, compared with 51% in December 2008.

ROUNDING

Where figures have been rounded, discrepancies may occur between the sum of components and the total. Proportions have been calculated using unrounded data.

Internet Activity Summary, for ISPs with more than 1,000 active subscribers

units

Jun 2008(a)

Dec 2008

Jun 2009

Proportion of ISPs(b)

Medium

%

na

70

62

Large

%

70

21

27

Very Large

%

30

9

11

Total ISPs

%

100

100

100

Subscribers

Dial-up

Business and government

'000

291

230

215

Household

'000

1 275

1 060

887

All dial-up subscribers

'000

1 566

1 290

1 103

Non dial-up

Business and government

'000

726

1 064

1 174

Household

'000

4 935

5 569

6 144

All non dial-up subscribers

'000

5 661

6 634

7 317

Total

Business and government

'000

1 018

1 295

1 389

Household

'000

6 210

6 629

7 031

Total subscribers

'000

7 228

7 925

8 420

Access connections

Dial-up

Analog

'000

1 551

1 272

1 077

ISDN/other

'000

15

13

10

All dial-up connections

'000

1 566

1 286

1 087

Non dial-up

DSL

'000

3 936

4 176

4 171

Fixed wireless

'000

np

155

160

Mobile wireless

'000

np

1 298

1 961

Satellite

'000

np

79

90

Cable and fibre

'000

np

913

931

ISDN/Other

'000

31

17

20

All non dial-up connections

'000

5 661

6 639

7 333

Total access connections

'000

7 228

7 925

8 420

Download speeds

Less than 256kbps

'000

1 581

1 293

1 103

Broadband

256kbps to less than 512kbps

'000

1 588

1 442

1 297

512kbps to less than 1.5Mbps

'000

963

1 165

1 249

1.5Mbps to less than 8Mbps

'000

1 444

2 002

2 529

8Mbps to less than 24Mbps

'000

1 390

1 650

1 800

24Mbps or greater

'000

262

373

443

Total Broadband (256kbps or greater)

'000

5 647

6 632

7 317

Total download speeds

'000

7 228

7 925

8 420

Volume data downloaded(c)

Dial-up

TBs

1 597

1 079

1 211

Non dial-up

TBs

53 837

80 274

98 782

Business and government

TBs

7 778

15 180

24 363

Household

TBs

47 656

66 172

75 360

Total volume data downloaded

TBs

55 434

81 352

99 993

na not available

np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated

(a) Data for ISPs with more than 10,000 active subscribers.

(b) Medium ISPs are defined as having 1,001 to 10,000 subscribers; large ISPs 10,001 to 100,000 subscribers; and very large ISPs 100,001 or more subscribers.

(c) During the three months of the reference period.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Tim Landrigan on Perth (08) 9360 5104.

Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.